Baladi bought two more insurance policies for the SUV in February, one from Victoria Insurance and the other from Infinity Insurance of Upper Macungie Township, detectives said.

On Feb. 12, four days after buying the Victoria policy, he claimed the SUV was damaged in a Bethlehem hit-and-run, detectives said. Victoria paid him $8,031, the affidavit says.

On Feb. 25, Baladi asked Infinity Insurance to pay for hit-and-run damage that he claimed happened to the SUV on the shoulder of the Interstate 78 on-ramp to Route 33, according to the affidavit. Investigators said this was fraud.

County detectives began looking at Baladi's accident reports after he made the Infinity claim, the affidavit says.

By looking at a photo record of the SUV damage, the detectives found Baladi was asking Infinity to pay for the same damage, with small additions, that Victoria paid him for, the affidavit says.